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Wealth of Elon Musk

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Elon Musk is one of the wealthiest people in the world, with an estimated net worth of US $314 billion as of November 2024, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and $300.3 billion according to Forbes, primarily from his ownership stakes in Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX.[1][2][3] In November 2021, he became the first person in the world to have a net worth above $300 billion.

History

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Elon Musk made $175.8 million when PayPal was sold to eBay in October 2002.[4] He was first listed on the Forbes Billionaires List in 2012, with a net worth of $2 billion.[5]

At the start of 2020, Elon Musk had a net worth of $27 billion.[6] By the end of the year his net worth had increased by $150 billion, mostly driven by his ownership of around 20% of Tesla stock.[7] During this period, Musk's net worth was often volatile. For example, it dropped $16.3 billion on September 8, the largest single-day plunge in Bloomberg Billionaires Index's history at the time.[8] In November of that year, Musk passed Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to become the third-richest person in the world; a week later he passed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the second-richest.[9]

In January 2021, Musk, with a net worth of $185 billion, surpassed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world.[10] Bezos reclaimed the top spot the following month.[11] On September 27, 2021, after Tesla stock surged, Forbes announced that Musk had a net worth of over $200 billion,[12] and was the richest person in the world. In November 2021, Musk became the first person to have a net worth of more than $300 billion.[13]

On December 30, 2022, it was reported that Musk had lost $200 billion from his net worth due to declining stock values in Tesla, becoming the first person in history to lose such a large sum of money.[14][15] In January 2023, Musk was recognized by Guinness World Records for experiencing the "largest loss of personal fortune in history" with regards to his financial losses since November 2021, which Guinness quoted a Forbes estimate of $182 billion.[16]

Sources of wealth

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The Federal government of the United States provided Musk with tens of billions of dollars.[17] Around 75% of Musk's wealth was derived from Tesla stock in November 2020,[9] a proportion that fell to about 37% as of December 2022,[a] after selling nearly $40 billion in company shares since late 2021.[18] Musk does not receive a salary from Tesla; he agreed with the board in 2018 to a compensation plan that ties his personal earnings to Tesla's valuation and revenue.[7] The deal stipulated that Musk only received the compensation if Tesla reached certain market values.[19] It was the largest such deal ever done between a CEO and a company board.[20] In the first award, given in May 2020, he was eligible to purchase 1.69 million Tesla shares (about 1% of the company) at below-market prices, which was worth about $800 million.[20][19]

The above stock compensation deal was invalidated by the Delaware court due to Musk controlling Tesla and having massive influence on the directors, making the compensation decision a "conflicted-controller transaction" which is subject to court review in Delaware law to be judged for fairness. Tesla is trying to reinstate the payment package via new shareholders votes.

Musk paid $455 million in taxes on $1.52 billion of income between 2014 and 2018.[21] According to ProPublica, Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018.[22] He stated his 2021 tax bill was estimated at $12 billion based on his sale of $14 billion worth of Tesla stock.[21]

Musk has repeatedly described himself as "cash poor",[23][24] and has "professed to have little interest in the material trappings of wealth".[23] In May 2020, he pledged to sell almost all physical possessions after a talk with Cory Spears.[24] Musk has defended his wealth by saying he is accumulating resources for humanity's outward expansion to space.[25]

Management

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Musk's personal wealth is managed by his family office called Excession LLC, formed in 2016 and run by Jared Birchall.[26]

Giving

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Education

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Musk has asserted that declining birth rates pose an existential threat to humanity and has donated $10 million to the University of Texas at Austin to further research on the potential risks.[27]

Technology

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In January 2015 Musk donated $10 million to the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, an organization focused on challenges posed by advanced technologies.[28]

Politics

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Musk gave more than $10 million to support the Ron DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign.[29]

Musk has donated more than $118 million to America PAC.[30][31]

According to the Wall Street Journal Musk has donated over $50 million to Citizens for Sanity.[32]

Notes

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  1. ^ According to the Wall Street Journal, he was worth $140 billion, with $52 billion of that attributable to his ownership of Tesla stock.

References

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  1. ^ "The Top 10 Richest People In The World (February 2024)". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  3. ^ "Real Time Billionaires". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 10, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  4. ^ Klebnikov, Sergei (August 8, 2017). "8 Innovative Ways Elon Musk Made Money Before He Was a Billionaire". Money. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  5. ^ Melby, Caleb (March 12, 2012). "How Elon Musk Became A Billionaire Tver". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  6. ^ Frank, Robert (January 7, 2021). "Elon Musk is now the richest person in the world, passing Jeff Bezos". CNBC. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  7. ^ a b O'Kane, Sean (January 7, 2021). "Elon Musk passes Jeff Bezos to become the richest person on Earth". The Verge. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  8. ^ Pitcher, Jack (September 8, 2020). "Elon Musk Loses Record $16.3 Billion With Wild Wealth Swings". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Neate, Rupert (November 14, 2020). "Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates to become world's second-richest person". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  10. ^ "Elon Musk becomes world's richest person as wealth tops $185bn". BBC News. January 7, 2021. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  11. ^ Palmer, Annie (February 16, 2021). "Jeff Bezos overtakes Elon Musk to reclaim spot as world's richest person". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Cai, Kenrick (September 27, 2021). "Elon Musk Eclipses $200 Billion To Become Richest Person in the World Again". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  13. ^ Haverstock, Eliza (November 2, 2021). "Elon Musk Is The First Person Worth More Than $300 Billion". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  14. ^ Chappatta, Brian (December 30, 2022). "Elon Musk Becomes First Person Ever to Lose $200 Billion". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 19, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  15. ^ Woodward, Alex (January 1, 2023). "Elon Musk is the first person in history to lose $200 billion". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  16. ^ Gans, Jared (January 7, 2023). "Elon Musk secures world record for largest-ever loss of personal fortune". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  17. ^ https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/11/20/business/elon-musk-wealth-government-help
  18. ^ Higgins, Tim (December 23, 2022). "Elon Musk's Finances Complicated by Declining Wealth, Twitter Pressures". The Wall Street Journal.
  19. ^ a b Sorkin, Andrew Ross (January 23, 2018). "Tesla's Elon Musk May Have Boldest Pay Plan in Corporate History". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  20. ^ a b O'Kane, Sean (May 28, 2020). "Elon Musk reaches first Tesla compensation award worth nearly $800 million". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  21. ^ a b Browne, Ryan (December 20, 2021). "Elon Musk says he will pay over $11 billion in taxes this year". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  22. ^ Mangan, Dan (June 8, 2021). "Bezos, Buffett, Bloomberg L.P., Musk, Icahn and Soros pay tiny fraction of wealth in income taxes, report reveals". CNBC. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  23. ^ a b Pendeleton, Devon (January 6, 2021). "Elon Musk Surpasses Jeff Bezos to Become World's Richest Person". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Higgins, Tim (May 8, 2020). "Elon Musk, Tech's Cash-Poor Billionaire". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  25. ^ Woodward, Alex (March 22, 2021). "Bernie Sanders responds to Elon Musk's space travel plans with call for progressive taxes". The Independent. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  26. ^ Jin, Hyunjoo; Marshall, Elizabeth Dilts (April 26, 2022). "Funding obscured: The family office behind Musk's $44 billion Twitter buyout". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023.
  27. ^ Becker, Andrea (October 16, 2023). "Elon Musk's Feud With Grimes Is a Warning". slate.com. Slate. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  28. ^ Kosoff, Maya (January 15, 2015). "Elon Musk Is Donating Million To Keep Killer Robots From Taking Over The World". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  29. ^ Shapiro, Julia (3 October 2024). "Musk donated millions to GOP causes as early as 2022: Reports". thehill.com. The Hill. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  30. ^ Ulmer, Alexandra; Levy, Rachael (October 16, 2024). "Musk gave $75 million to pro-Trump group, becoming a Republican mega donor". Reuters.
  31. ^ Durkee, Alison (October 24, 2024). "Elon Musk Is Now Trump's 2nd-Biggest Financial Backer: Donates Nearly $120 Million To Super PAC". Forbes.
  32. ^ Mattioli, Dana; Palazzolo, Joe; Safdar, Khadeeja (2024-10-02). "Elon Musk Gave Tens of Millions to Republican Causes Far Earlier Than Previously Known". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
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